The general development of the concept of self-esteem is reviewed, and concerns about the research strategies and issues are discussed. This paper focuses on adolescent self-esteem. Research is presented on global self-esteem, domain specific self-esteem as it relates to global self-esteem, and the identification of self-esteem trajectories. Overall, the studies support the idea that the period of adolescence is rather stable in regard to self-esteem; however, there are some fluctuations in self-esteem scores especially for females and young adolescents making transitions. Global self-esteem is shown to be a separate but related entity to domain specific self-esteem. Also the identification of self-esteem trajectories demonstrates that adolescent self-esteem does not follow one pattern of development. Studies involving diverse populations are now pointing to individual differences in self-competencies and how these contribute to overall self-esteem. The improvements of self-esteem research in the past two decades have created many interesting and relevant paths to follow. The paper concludes with a summary of findings and implications for clinical practice and future research. (EMK)